As to the nascent controversy of sitting Gomez, Muller and Podolski - close watchers of the German team are pointing out that Schurrle and Reus are tricksier players than either Podolski and Muller, better at operating in the small spaces the Greeks cede in their own final third.

And that Klose's aerial threat will keep Greek defenders from pressing too high.

Taking that for what it's worth, there's no getting around the fact that sitting three forwards (or forward minded players) is going to be taken as an insult, no matter how it was intended.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:09:45 PM

Who is playing Sunday?

by MIMI6/22/2012 6:09:48 PM

I am - Cathal and the Klavaliers. We'll be at the Dance Cave in Krakow. Forty Zlotys at the door.

Afterward, you can watch England-Italy at 20:45 local time (14:45 in stinking, fetid, way too hot Toronto time). I'm playing a morning show.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:10:12 PM

Okay, okay, I'm here now. Just had the soup. Delicious. No idea what was in it - a perfect medley of chewy and snappy. But delicious nonetheless.

I want to point out that all that stuff you see below was stuff I did early. You're all my witnesses when my overtime sheets are bounced back at me, all covered in question marks and pink slips.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:24:47 PM

Regardless of what Portugal does now, do you think Ronaldo has shed his reputation as being unable to perform on the big stage?

by In Toronto6/22/2012 6:24:52 PM

Hm. Not sure yet. Getting there. Given his history and the divide he tends to create, I don't think the monkey climbs down off his back until he's invited to help lift up the trophy.

And now I'm thinking that including monkeys in all trophy celebrations should be obligatory.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:26:13 PM

Tell Morris I've driven with you and it isn't all that bad. Or maybe you can just blame the roads and not your driving! Germany by 3 please!

As character references go, this is a little dodgy. But I'll take it. Remind me to give you the OPPs phone number. They have an 800-line set up to deal with complaints about my driving.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:28:49 PM

I will refrain from making a prediction and revealing my bias, but I will say I'm hoping for this much - an early Greek goal.

This gets very interesting if Germany has to play from behind.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:30:07 PM

Good news! I've found my gum.

Obviously, the augueries are turning in Greece's favour. Now if I could only find my shrunken human head and my chicken bones. Then we'd be getting somewhere.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:31:44 PM

Tensions, as you may have heard, a little high here.

However, I think this best captureshe proper spirit in which to approach any angry debtors feelings about German triumphalism.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:33:46 PM

I was hoping for the same thing from the Czechs yesterday.I still believe Portugal would have won but it would have been way more entertaining.

by Bill6/22/2012 6:33:59 PM

Let's all try to think back to that beautiful time a week ago, when the Czechs put two quick ones by Greece and won 2-1.

If that happens here tonight, we're in for a long, hard slog (unless you're German).

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:34:42 PM

Football is coming. But for now Poland dances, to strangely portentous choir music.

When did the Opening Ceremonies become the Permanent Ceremonies?

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:35:34 PM

I should note the weather - quite cool, rained most of the day. 17C just before kickoff. Perfect conditions for long, hard running. For football players. The rest of us get sick when we run whether its blazing or glacial.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:36:38 PM

Hm. The Greeks are in the tunnel. Instead the usual rocking side-to-side and staring into the middle distance, they're all broken up into small klatches having animated, arm-waving conversations. Let's hope they've got this figured out by now.

Competing flag banners unfurled by both sets of fans. Unsurprisingly, the German one is much, much bigger.

by Cathal Kelly edited by Toronto Star6/22/2012 6:40:41 PM

As you don't listen to the anthems, it's time for me to do my boiler-plate 'I can't spell, so don't get insulted that I can't spell' thing.

I can't spell. It's a terrible affliction. When I got my first job as a copy editor at the Star, they made me do a spelling test. The ghouls. I got 2-out-of-10 correct. And it was an either/or test. It's that bad. I should probably be on (an additional sort of) medication.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:42:06 PM

Aaand the German fans let off their first flare. It was already foggy to begin with.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:43:53 PM

We should note where the new guys fit - Schurrle and Reus will play on either wing, flanking Ozil. Klose up front, where he uses his small body and gigantic head to weeble-wobble balls into the net.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:44:54 PM

We're off. And Greece starts by ... standing on the ball for a good five seconds.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:46:23 PM

1 mins - That's more like it. Germans take turnover in midfield. Ozil up quickly, through to Klose, but Papastathopoulos there to knock it off the striker's foot.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:47:30 PM

2 mins - Another almost for Germany. This time Reus almost connects with Klose, but the ball is knocked away.

Afteward, Samaras slides studs first into Khedira. Referee Damir Skomina from Slovenia may have his hands full here.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:49:08 PM

4 mins - ITS IN THE NET BUT OFFSIDE - Khedira takes a shot from just outside the box, Sifakis can't smother it, Klose onto it quickly, but he was offside - just - as the shot was taken.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:50:22 PM

5 mins - Sifakis is down after that ended up in a pile in front of goal. Nothing water and a little bit of alone time on the ground can't solve.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:50:59 PM

Klose will score twice. Klose's brain on Gomez's body would be a wonderful site to behold!

by Ken S from Ramara6/22/2012 6:51:00 PM

But surrounded by bone and flesh, right? Because I'm not sure ...

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:51:17 PM

By the by, there is some serious security walking around here tonight. Not 'army' security. More like 'I killed guys at Tora Bora with my bare hands' sort of security.

by Cathal Kelly6/22/2012 6:51:51 PM

6 mins - Germans stream forward again. This time Khedira's effort from distance is high. The Greeks staggering a bit here in the early going.